On Tuesday, March 3, major Japanese EAF-based steel producer Tokyo Steel announced further decline of its scrap purchase prices for the first time since late February. The still weak demand in the local market in Japan has put pressure on scrap export prices.
Tokyo Steel has cut H2 scrap purchase prices for Kyushu and Utsunomiya plants by JPY 500/mt ($4.6/mt) to JPY 19,000/mt ($177/mt) and JPY 19,500/mt ($181.5/mt) delivered respectively. Purchasing prices for Takamatsu and Okayama remained at JPY 18,000-19,000/mt ($167.5-177/mt) delivered, while quotations at Tahara stayed at JPY 20,500/mt ($191/mt) delivered. The prices are effective from March 4. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, the previous revision by Tokyo Steel was made on February 27.
At the same time, official offers for ex-Japan H2 scrap have been at JPY 24,000-24,500/mt ($223-228/mt) FOB, despite the announcement of an increase to JPY 24,500-25,000/mt ($228-233/mt) FOB last week. Moreover, the tradable value has decreased by JPY 500-1,000/mt ($4.6-9.3/mt) to JPY 23,500/mt ($219/mt) FOB, sources have said.
$1 = JPY 107.5
